Musical instrument.



C. MEYER.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

' APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21. 1908.

Patented Apr. 18, 1911.

Wiinooeo CHARLES MEYER, OF CISSNA PARK, ILLINOIS.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Apr. 18, 1911.

Application filed November 21, 1908. Serial No. 463,873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, CHARLES MEYER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cissna Park, in the county of Iroquois and State ofIllinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in MusicalInstruments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a musical instrument of the string type to beplayed by means of pedals and the object of the invention is aninstrument which can be employed as an accompaniment of a violin,mandolin or other instrument, the performer playing his ownaccompaniment by means of the pedals.

The invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of theaction by means of which the hammers are thrown to and withdrawn fromthe strings, and in other novel features of construction hereinafterdescribed, pointed out in the claims and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a plan View. Fi 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Similar reference numerals are employed in all of the figures todesignate the same parts.

In carrying out my invention I employ an upright casing 1 about threefeet square and one foot in depth, from the front of which extends ahorizontally arranged frame 2 about twenty inches in length, four inchesdeep, and of the same width as the casin This frame 2 and the casing 1rest upon the floor and contain the mechanism of the instrument.Arranged within the frame 2 and extending into the casing 1 are eighteenpedals, two feet in length, so that they extend four inches within thecasing. The rear of the casing is cut out and over said out out portionis fitted a sound box 4t which carries thirty six strings, the highestnotes being triple strung.

Arranged longitudinally through the easing is a hammer rail 6, said railbeing about the level of the top of the frame 2. Hinged to this rail areeighteen hammers 7 carrying the usual hammer heads. The pedals arehinged to the front of the frame and extend below the hammer rail andbetween the same and a pedal stoprail S. The inner ends of the pedalsproject beyond the hammer rail and the inner end of each pedal isconnected by a spring 9 with one of the hammers. A spring 10 of lessstrength than the spring 9 is secured to each hammer at one end and atthe other end to the hammer rail.

The operation of the device is as follows: hen the pedal is depressedthe spring 9 will be stretched and will draw the hammer forward quicklyso that the hammer head will strike the string or strings with whichsaid hammer cooperates, thus stretching the re-bounding spring 10. Uponrebound of the hammer the spring 10 will hold the hammer head from againdropping back to the strings, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2,and as soon as the pedal is released by the foot the spring 10 willreturn the hammer to its normal position, and the spring 9 will returnthe pedal to its proper position.

It will be understood that changes can be made in the size of the parts,in the number of pedals and in the number of strings without departingfrom my invention.

What I claim is 1. A foot operated string instrument comprising hingedpedals, a hammer rail, hammers hinged to said rail, springs connectingthe hammers, respectively, to said rail and to the pedals, and stringsfor said hammers to cooperate with.

2. A device of the kind described comprising a casing a pedal frame,pedals hinged to said frame, a hammer rail arranged in the casing,strings in the casing, hammers hinged to said rail, a pedal stoprail,springs connecting the hammers to the inner ends of the pedals, andsprings connecting said hammers to the hammer rail.

3. A device of the kind described comprising a vertical-casing, ahorizontally arranged pedal frame, pedals hinged to the front of saidframe, said pedals extending into the casing, a hammer rail arrangedabove the inner ends of the pedals, a pedal stoprnil arranged below theinner end portions of the pedals, hammers hinged to the rear edge of thehammer rail, springs secured at one end of said hammers and at the otherend to the front edge of the hamnier rail, springs secured to thehammers at one end and at the other end to the inner ends of the pedals,a sound box carried by the rear of the casing and strings arranged insaid sound boX.

CHARLES MEYER. Vitnesses F RED. hfinrnn, HENRY Rnnnnnn.

Qopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

